Shantae x Bolo P 2 of 2
by TheGracefulGodot
Summary: Hearbroken Bolo continues to work on the rooftops as the events of yesterday play in his head. Seeking her advice, Sky offers Bolo the best wisdom she can with the situation, and after her help, he decides to double-check Mimic's research on the Silver Bracelet. However, he stumbles upon a letter in a glyph book, and soon learns the truth about the bracelet from Shantae herself...


The rays of the sun are intensifying. When there is nothing to shield its harsh light from burning the land, flares of deadly passion lash out onto the earth below it, scorching everything in sight.

I was the fool who was foolish enough to foolishly stand outside and fix a foolishly hopeless fop of a fool. Yeah I'm not making any sense, but its easy to blame the sun for all of that isn't it? No, when you make a fool out of yourself for stupid reasons like love you can't make excuses. Throughout the day while I was fixing the rooftops of the houses that were destroyed in the storm, the events of yesterday continued to play in my head like a broken record. My lips pressed against hers, her wonderful reaction, and then the rejection. I physically pushed myself onto her and she didn't actually want it in the beginning. The only reason she gave in was because she knew she couldn't fight me. I truly am a monster, and she will never look at me the same way again, and honestly, I really don't blame her. Who could...?

"Bolo...?" My ears perked up again. That voice...it couldn't be.

"Shantae?!" I quickly swung around to find her standing below me from the rooftop. Shantae...she was standing still while the wind was ruffling our hair that danced in a waltz. "Shantae..."

"Bolo," she spoke, "I'm..." She suddenly stopped in midsentence, and closed her eyes as she walked away.

"Shantae wait!" It didn't matter. She just continued to walk in the distance, ignoring my calls as I just sat on the shingles I fixed. They were burning me up, but I was just too depressed to make a single movement. After finishing my job, I just climbed down the ladder and sulked in misery for the rest of the time.

The sun was already setting, and no matter how badly I wanted to move, I couldn't. I had suffered from the harsh sunlight that made its markings deep into my skin. The shade and water I dripped on me was helping a little, but not enough to make me get up and pack my stuff for the evening. I didn't even see Shantae stroll back in front of the houses, forcing me to believe that she had taken the back roads to make it to the lighthouse. It was whatever honestly, I didn't expect her to. Why would she want to see someone like me after what I had done?

"Stupid research," I muttered, "If it wasn't for that stupid bracelet I'd-OW!" All of the sudden I felt a sharp pair of talons squishing the top of my head. Only one bird in the entire world could cause such pain and misery, and this was only reserved to me! "DAMMIT WRENCH! GET OFF MY HEAD!" The bird continued to squawk and squander as it pecked the top of my head. I immediately jumped up and tried to ram the stupid bird against the wall of the house, only to be greeted face-first with the stupid said wall itself! "GOSH! Can't I ever get a break from the stupid bird?!"

"WRENCH! That's enough!" I shook my head violently while scratching it, trying to massage the new markings I recieved from the stupid bird that landed on top of my poor head. When I opened my eyes again, the bird was now atop its rightful owner, one of Shantae's closest friends since she came to the island. Sky was...well, she was my first love interest. Sure she was older than me but I didn't let something like that stop my pursuit of course. That was, until she set me straight with her attention for older guys. Heh, seeing her go after one of Ammo Baron's men was actually a pretty funny situation. But that was ok, we were better off as friends since she had so much wisdom to give us. She was like a big sister to Shantae and I, but just like most of the other girls around here, she was pretty sassy nonetheless.

"Sky!" I exclaimed, "You outta keep that bird on a leash or something! He almost ripped my head off!" The girl was wearing a blue and white bikini, no hat to protect her two long ponytails.

"I never understood why he always saw you as a snack Bolo," she started, "Wasn't there something you did to it a long time ago or...?"

"No!" I answered, "In fact I was there when it hatched and even then he just nipped at my fingers! I'm not some kind of worm or gutterfish!" I started to climb up the ladder and put my things away for the night. I wanted to start on the other roofs, but reasons I'm sure most of you know compelled me not to continue my work...

"What have you been doing Bolo?" Sky asked, "You look like a fried potato chip only carpet red!" I hopped down and greeted her, although  
keeping a distance from her stupid bird Wrench.

"I've just been working on the rooftops all day," I answered, "Uncle Mimic left on a trip this morning so as usual he left me behind to do all the work." The woman began to frown.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied, "If you'd ask me earlier I would've cancelled my beach trip with Ron and given you a hand." She suddenly smiled. "Hey, maybe you could get Shantae to help you out! Where is she? Oh! I bet she's at the lighthouse right now! I'll go get her-"

"That won't be necessary thank you." She shook her head.

"Nonsense! With her genie magic she got back she could easily-"

"I said no." I sighed as I picked up my work bag and placed it on my shoulder.

"Jeeze," Sky muttered, "What buzzard's in your hair today? Um...pardon the pun."

"I don't wanna talk about it. I'd...rather not please." I started walking back to my house, actually not expecting Sky to follow me in struts.

"Why not?" she asked, "You always came to me for help whenever you needed it. What's the occassio-" Suddenly her tone of voice changed as if she had reached an epiphany. "...Booooooloooooo. What did you do this time?" I froze in place and glanced back at the girl in wonder.

"Why do you care?" I asked her, "I'm always screwing things up left and right. Nothing ever goes in my favor anyway, so if you're looking to help me out, don't waste your time."

"Because you're my friend Bolo. You mean just as much to me as Shantae does, and I'm sure if you talked to me about it we could figure something out. We always did right?" I sighed as I queued her to follow me to my house.

We sat at my table and shared my home-brewed tea together, talking about all the things that I transpired yesterday. I explained to her that it was just an innocent jesture to do research at Shantae's place because I wanted us to improve on our relic hunting skills. Then when we finally gave up, she would insist that we danced together even though I never knew how to. Then one thing lead to another, and then another, and then another. After a moment of silence, Sky folded her arms and sighed as Wrench took a nap on her head.

"So she ended up rejecting you in the end huh?" she questioned, "To be honest, I'm not really surprised." Well, such a comment couldn't piss me off anymore.

"You're not helping the situation by putting me down like that you know," I told her, "So much for talking about it."

"Think about why I'm saying that Bolo," she retorted, "You two have been best friends since we were all little kids. It's kind of hard for her to see

you as anything else other than an older brother when you two used to live together right? I mean, it's common sense." I sighed at her words. She was right, however...

"You don't just ask someone to dance like that," I argued, "I mean sure I brought up the subject of her dancing mysteries, but she didn't have to test her waters there. She could've just left it alone and watch movies or something, have dinner, hang out as best friends. Why did she even bother to try and teach me to dance if she knew the events would lead up to-"

"She didn't know it would," Sky interrupted, "Bolo, a woman's heart is really delicate you know? Now the two of us may act tough and sassy  
sometimes, but our actions don't really match what we are feeling at that moment. Now I could be wrong, maybe she really does have feelings for you, but she could be really, really confused. It's hard for her to connect with someone on that level since her mother passed. You know what I mean right?"

"I guess so," I answered, "I mean I was orphaned by Uncle Mimic when my parents just disappeared. I don't even remember what they looked like when they left me, so I don't have a bond with either my mother nor my father." I suddenly realized something. "Wait...what is there for her to be confused about? She accepted my kiss and continued going with it, more passionately than ever if I recalled correctly!"

"Yes because, as you said, she knew she couldn't fight with you about trying to get away," Sky reminded me, "Which by the by, don't feel bad about that. Seriously I've read every romance story in the library at the palace and none could ever compare to something like that. It's drama-worthy, and that means something Bolo." I sighed at her words once again. I didn't feel like this was going anywhere, and that really I was just being mocked.

"What am I supposed to do Sky?" I asked, "I feel like I've really ruined this for the both of us. I don't want to lose her completely. That fear alone makes me feel damp and hopeless inside..." Sky took a moment to assess the situation I presented her with while I just looked towards the lighthouse, at least of what I could see. The lights were slowly dimming into darkness, the girl had just went to sleep.

"Bolo," Sky started, "I have to tell you something and it's really important that you listen." I was all ears as I focused my attention on the sage of birds. "I can't stop you from wanting to pursue what you feel, because it's, well, what you feel. I can't opinion-ate that because I would be selfish and cruel, but I can give you the best advice possible because I do care about you." She took a deep breath. "But there's something else: you need to consider Shantae's feelings if you truly do care about her. Ultimately in the end, the other person's thoughts are what count the most, especially in the situation you placed yourself in. If she does come to terms with wanting to be with you, then treat her the way you always wanted to, more than a friend should. If not, then you have to swallow that sadness you're draining yourself with and move forward." She placed her hand on mine and smiled. "I promise you, everything is going to be ok. If she rejects you again, she will still always treasure you as her best friend. I feel that in my heart. It wouldn't be like Shantae to do anything else but that..." I never thought it  
would happen again, but a smile had begun to sprout on my face at her true yet kind words. She was right, what was it that I had to lose if she had said no?

"...Thanks a lot Sky," I told her, "That's exactly what I needed to hear."

"Anytime Bolo," she replied, "Now, I'm going to get some sleep. The sun is already down and this girl is growing fatigued..." She got up from her chair and embraced me, her head resting on my shoulder. "I know I said I wouldn't impose my thoughts on yours...but...I'll be honest with you: if we had met like this a long time ago and you were as mature as you've grown to be now, I...I would've been honored to be yours." She began to rub my back. "So who's to say Shantae wouldn't feel the same as you do for her?" She released me and saw herself out the door. "Goodnight Bolo...and good luck." After the sound of the door closing, I had a lot to think about. The first thing that came to mind was the research Uncle Mimic had actually gathered for that silver bracelet Shantae and I found at Tan Line Isle. It was...something I thought would work with Shantae that night, but instead of relying on my own time, I just thought the research Uncle Mimic had sought out was the correct answer to...winning her heart. I admit now that I was a serious fool, not because of my actions, but because I didn't wait for the right moment to assert them.

"Wait a minute..." Suddenly, a though had crossed my mind about the silver bracelet. After thinking about the contents Uncle Mimic had produced, was it...actually possible that THE great Mimic the Relic Hunter got his information wrong?! I didn't have time to lose, I had to do some of the research over again, this time, on my own...

"Grrrr come oooooon! It's gotta be around here somewhere!" A desperate man I was to obtain the information Uncle Mimic's papers so I could figure out exactly what it was that was written on the bracelet. Maybe there was a translation error somewhere, I couldn't figure it out unless I had the very documents that could help the situation! "Dammit!" It was no use, the documentations were nowhere to be found. "I guess Mimic cleaned up his place before he left this morning...now I'm never gonna be able to find-" Suddenly, a glitter caught my eye from the glass container sitting on the window ceil. I brought myself together and ran straight to the ceil to nab it, sighing in relief at the object held within. "...The silver bracelet..." Without hesitation, I popped the lid off and dumped the object into my hand, placing it on the table afterwards. If I was going to get answers, now was the time to do it.

I took some of the tools out from my bag and began dusting the bracelet once more. I knew that Uncle Mimic had already done so, but it couldn't help to at least polish it and place the remains on the papers I already had pulled out. There were brands on each item, but only one of them didn't share the same insignia, and that was the bracelet. Strange huh? It was a bracelet that was supposed to be buried within Tan Line Isle, and we couldn't argue with the fact that we found it there. So with all things considered, there was only one hypothesis I could propose from my findings: if the ring was originally buried on Tan Line, then why is the insignia different from those of the potteries and clay objects that were along with it? I truthfully don't believe Mimic did all of his research, there was no way the documentations he originally wrote down were conclusive. If the research tells of a king giving this bracelet to a woman he wanted to marry, then how did it come to be that the woman he gave it to was a slave? It just didn't make sense unless he fell in love with her. But it was the other paragraph that I read last night which truly rang the bells inside my head.

"The eyes of the relics co-exist, but are soon brought together under unity. Hearts are red, bloods are blue, aging of two to gift the world with undying loyalty. If the undying bond seeks a forbidden truth, then it soon shall be revealed..."

From my gatherings with the pottery and the other antiques, there was the traditional Tan Line Insignia which depicted that of a cobra snake dancing out of a hole. What this had in common with the bracelet was still a mystery considering the insignias were differnet, so I continued my observations by placing the particles I dusted off the bracelet into a container. I used a set as a control unit, and the rest of them were also sealed within the glass bottles. Now, I've seen Uncle Mimic do this before. There had to be something in his chemist box that could tell the story I had been searching for. I turned to the glass cabinets and took a look at the vials he had placed inside. In one section, there was a green liquid that gave specific instructions for testing purposes. After looking over them, I had to think first what I would use this for. Earlier I had discovered that the insignias of two specific objects were different. The bracelet had an engraving of a heart within a heart, aided with a blooming flower in the middle. This had to be a clue, it HAD to! Why in the hell would these objects have different insignias  
when they should all be the same?! I was close, I could feel it. The other hypothesis I formed in my head was as follows: could the silver bracelet actually belong to someone who was not a resident of Tan Line Isle? And if so, what exactly was Uncle Mimic researching?! Carefully, I placed the green liquid inside the container with the particles from the pottery. At the same time, I gave the control unit, which were the particles from the silver bracelet, the same green liquid. Awaiting the results, I jotted down notes about the last paragraph and tried to decipher them. "The eyes of the relics co-exist, but are soon brought together under unity." That was simple right? All it's talking about are the bracelet and the other items. They co-exist because they were found together when Shantae and I revealed them from the tomb. "Hearts are red, bloods are blue, aging of two to gift the world with undying loyalty." Now this was confusing to me. The heart of any living being is indeed red, but why would blood be blue? When pain is inflicted, only red blood comes out right? What exactly was this saying? I thought a little hard on it, but I was literally coming up with nothing. Aging of two to gift the world with undying loyalty...now what would associate with loyalty? Perhaps it had something to do with the other riddle, hearts are red, blood is blue. My eyes suddenly widened, I just figured it out! The color purple is usually described as a significance of loyalty. I've read somewhere in the stories of old about a pair of mythical kingdoms that existed. One of the neighboring lands had their armor in a black and purple scheme, and these people always pledged their selves to their king. It was a wild guess, but to me, figuring out what this bracelet was about is more important than anything right now, and that guess was as good as it was gonna get. "If the undying bond seeks a forbidden truth, then it soon shall be revealed..." This last statement actually made zero sense. What did this have to do with any of the riddles of the last paragraph in Mimic's research? I mean, yeah it's simple, I understand the completely. But it was the last sentence written in the riddle, and it just looked like it bore zero relevance to my findings. I gave myself a break and rested my eyes. A silver bracelet that had a different insignia from the other objects that were found in the tomb...it was obvious at this point. There was no way it was native to the desert island Uncle Mimic explained about in the papers. Why was it there? What was he trying to tell us? What if he actually didn't finish his legit research and just forgot about it? Or...maybe...

"Huh?" I rose my head up to find the vials fizzing at the rims, but that wasn't my concern. It was actually the colors of the flasks that gave me all the attention they needed. The one with the findings from the silver bracelet was crimson colored, while the other was of a deep-sea blue. "What the heck?" I got up slowly and observed the vials closely. Nothing remained but these colors, the particles had vanished into thin air. "Ok...the colors are red and blue, but what exactly does it mean?" This was a stupid experiment. I didn't even understand why I took all this stuff out when...wait. "...This couldn't be a trick, could it?" I turned to the vials and thought about the simplest thing to do. I placed them in my hands after I took out a wide-set beaker, gently pouring the liquids together. No surprise, they actually made the mixtures turn into a purple color. Loyalty, unity of two, aging of two. That made some sense I suppose, the particles from the two items were pretty aged when we found them. This was really it wasn't it? My experimentation was coming up with nothing, not a single answer that could possibly be different from the one Mimic came up with. Maybe his research actually WAS conclusive. Maybe everything I was thinking was wrong, maybe this was a huge time waster to begin with. Now that I think about it, I don't even really know why I came here. I just decided to call it quits and started cleaning up the place. I placed the rest of the particles back into their perspective jars and closed them off, looking at the bracelet after I sat down in Uncle Mimic's chair. I was considering this all to be an awful prank he set up just to make me do something really stupid to someone I cared about, but then again, someone like him wouldn't do such a thing. I was rubbing my sun-burned face, thinking about all the things I did to figure out the true story behind this one little object that just didn't seem to have any relevance to any of the things we found on Tan Line. Then suddenly, it had just came to me. I placed the bracelet on the table and grabbed a book about silver artifacts from the top of his book shelf. I took some time to decipher the markings that were engraved on the ring, and drew a picture of the insignia I found earlier. It could've just been a design choice, I considered that thought, but I can't think of any reason why it was chosen. It was a norm to find translations inside one of these that could help any relic hunter with figuring out puzzles. But finding an envelope that fell straight out of the last page  
was something I wasn't expecting. "What's this?" I obviously wasn't just going to sit there and ponder about it. I opened the envelope with my pocket knife and pulled a piece of paper, neatly unfolding it to reveal its contents. I froze in place before I could even begin reading it...the text was in a purple pen, written in such an elegant form not even Sky could write this way. My heart was slowly mending...only one girl would write this in such a way...

Couldn't figure it out either could you? I knew this would be the last place you'd turn to before you gave up. I know I did...  
Hehehe...We really do suck as relic hunters you know that? We may actually find the things Uncle Mimic asks for, but the reality is we could never amount to someone like him when it comes to research. We're just really better off being hunters and nothing else...I don't know. I have something important I want to talk to you about...so as soon as you get this letter, go ahead and just give up this hopeless charade of investigating and come to the lighthouse. I hope to see you soon Bolo...

-Shantae, _your_ half-genie hero

...I can't believe it. This really was all a waste of time. The experiments, the pottery, the translations, the silver bracelet...it really was all just  
meaningless. Shantae apparently got to the lab before I ever thought of going in the first place, but...even then that rose more questions in my head than I could ever imagine. Why was she here? And the other thing that caught my attention, it may not be much, but...the word "your" was underlined. What...what does she mean by that...?

"...Shantae..."

The greatest thing about Shantae's lighthouse to me was the fact that it was isolated from Scuttletown. It sat on an island connected by the landmark through a wooden bridge, where she could do anything she wanted with the landscape. Not that she really cared about it, most days she would be either in the lighthouse or shopping around the market while visiting friends. If it were me occupying this place, I would've turned it into my own personal workshop and abode for the gifted. Heh, gifted. I guess I really am such a person huh? But now wasn't the time to think about these things. A cooling wind gave me a chill as the moonlight beamed down onto my body, healing the sun burns I acquired through my harsh labor on the rooftop of the next house I worked on. Standing in front of me was the door to Shantae's abode...and I was hesitating at the thought of knocking on it. But if I wanted to get the answers I was looking for, talking to her was the only way to do it. I sighed heavily.

"Here goes..." I placed my fist on the door and began to knock. It was silent for the first few seconds, but after a little while, the dimmer on her lights grew brighter, illuminating the little island as the door began to open. In front of me was a gorgeous girl in her pajamas, wiping the sleep from her eyes until she came to the realization of who was standing in front of her.

"Hey Bolo..." She was frowning, her eyes halfway shut as she was looking down. I didn't know what to say really, I just uttered the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey..." We stood there in a long silence, just looking at each other for a little while until she finally said something.

"Come in." I nodded slowly as she opened the door a little more for me to climb inside. After shutting it, she pointed her finger at me. "Wait here for a second." The girl walked upstairs as I sat and waited on the couch for awhile. Once again, a million things traveling at light speed in my head right now. Anything could've happened. One situation I pictued in particular was the fact that she wanted to talk to me about something important. It could've been about the research of the bracelet, or perhaps the events of what occured last night. I was almost hyperventilating in fear. I could barely contain myself while sitting on the couch, I could even feel my heartbeats through the couch itself!

"You're going to be ok..." Sky's voice was echoing in my head, calming, charming, and healing. It was a nice feeling to know that she believed in me, the bracelet I brought from the lab helped a little too when I clasped it in my hands. For all the trouble this little bastard has been giving me, it really was a beautiful bracelet. This was something I imagined Shantae would wear if she was dressed in her angel white costume, the engravings were something I couldn't really get right, it still made the bracelet look very elegant, more-so than the other charms Shantae carried around.

"Bolo?"

"GAH!" I shook my head and slid the bracelet quickly inside my pocket, looking up at the woman who danced like the goddess she was. She was alittle more awake, a normal expression on her beloved face. "S-Sorry! I was lost in thought." She smiled a little.

"Aren't you always?" she retorted, "Alright, come on. Let's head up to the balcony." I nodded as she...grabbed my hand. This time however, she was interlocking her fingers in mine as we trailed up the staircase. When we reached the wooden door, she opened it slowly, allowing me to embrace the view that stood before the two of us. The balcony may have been small, but I didn't expect it to be as gorgeous as the inside of her house. There were two egyptian-styled love seats facing a table covered in a white cloth. Upon those were the adornments that enhanced it: golden ribbons with swirls flowing through the table itself, a bouquet of small red roses in the center, and two engravements which I guessed were Shantae's signatures. They were gorgeous...everything was absolutely  
perfect here. "How do you like it?" Despite the thoughts of the decor I just witnessed, I was...seriously confused. What was she planning to do?

"I-I...I really don't know Shantae. I guess I don't exactly understand what's going on here." She closed her eyes and gave a stern appearance in her lips.

"I don't blame you," she agreed, "Especially with...events that have happened a little bit ago." We made our way to the loveseats after she stopped talking. "Here...help me move this, I want it to face the moonlight." I nodded and rotated the loveseat as easy as I could without scratching her wooden floor as she did the same. When we finished, the two of us sat in silence for what felt like half an hour, just gazing at the infinite stars dancing in the skies of naught, taking a notice of how big the moon actually was tonight. It was gorgeous. If I was a painter, I wouldn't mind illustrating such an image on an easel for all to see. Heheh, of course, I charged quite a bit of monnie to even have a patron take a look at it. Out of curiosity, I slowly rotated my head in the belly-dancer's direction, her eyes steady on the giant moon standing before us. She was...really beautiful, how the wind was just flowing through her hair while the pieces of her pajamas just...danced with it. She bore no expression that I could tell was happy or sad, but it did look a bit concerning to me. This silence was killing me. I had to get her to say something.

"Sh-" Too late I suppose. She wanted to say something first, so I let her.

"It's...really crazy how our world is so small isn't it?" she asked, "Yet such a tiny place can produce beauty that even the gods wish they could be a part of."

"Shantae..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying her best not to face me as she spoke the words I never thought she would.

"Bolo...," she spoke, "The research...it's..."

"Yes?"

"It was a ruse." Wait...WHAT?!

"What are you talking about?" She shook her head slowly as she was saying these things.

"The silver bracelet...," she continued, "I knew what it was all along, I just didn't bother to tell anyone about it except Uncle Mimic." Lockjaw again, but I couldn't tell if I was angry or if I was surprised. It TRULY WAS a waste of my time!

"Wh-What do you mean?!" I exclaimed, "I spent hours upon HOURS in that shop trying to decipher what it was saying! I mean-WHAT?! That doesn't make any sense! How did you know what it was when you did the research yoursel-"

( watch?v=VJiNjoMPtcs play this with the next part, it's so fitting, least to me!)

"I forged it...," she answered, "I made the bracelet with genie magic and hid it in the desert on Tan Line." I was really in shock! How did she come up with something so elaborate that I'd fall for it?! AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE?! "I...just made up an excuse for you to come to my place. It had to be believable so you wouldn't bother questioning me about it." She slightly giggled. "I guess I failed at that task, the questioning part I mean." I turned my body towards her with my arms folded.

"Y-You...guhhhh...you better have an explanation for this, especially since I've busted my ass off to figure out what it meant!" She...had a tear rolling down her face at that moment. Did I...hurt her feelings?

"I started...feeling things I didn't understand at the time," she began, "I was going to talk to Sky about it, but I didn't know if she would keep quiet since it was a personal thing. So my last option was Uncle Mimic. I talked to him about my problems and he sat there and listened for hours on end, I don't even recall what time it was when we finished. He finally..." She was hesitating. "He finally gave me a complicated and elaborate yet wonderful idea. He told me to use my genie magic to create something that signified unity and loyalty, so the first thing that came to mind was the silver bracelet you have in your pocket now." I could feel it in my hand as I clasped it from the inside of the cloth. I took it out while she continued speaking, observing it closely. "After this, he told me that the object has to be unsearchable, so difficult that not even he could figure it out, so I did the best I could at engraving things on it that were of a well-known language to us genies. Not even Uncle Mimic would find it in his books no matter how hard he looked...so it was perfect. After that, I had him help me add some rust or other things I could use to dirty the bracelet up so it appeared ancient, then took it upon myself to delve into the catacombs and bury it..." What the...hell is going on? "That's when he called us in a few days go so we could go get it together..."

"Wait," I interrupted, "Does that mean the translations Mimic and I got were...actually wrong?" She nodded.

"Yes...and they were intentionally supposed to be wrong. That riddle he wrote in the papers, did you understand what it meant?" I thought for a moment when looking back at the papers. The translations I thought were accurate, but the mystery was...

"I figured out bits and pieces of it," I answered, "But they didn't seem to connect with anything else that was found that day."

"Of course they didn't," she affirmed, "They didn't because the pottery and other items were actually from Tan Line, while the bracelet you have in your hand is actually made of contents that change every minute it exists. That's because the bracelet is from the Genie Realm..." I was...well, it's getting old now to say this, but I really WAS shocked! I definitely had to ask her a lot of questions.

"So what was the goal of this plan exactly?" I started, "You must've been all over the place to try and make this work, there had to be a reason you didn't tell me anything about it till now." She turned to face me, the same concerning expression ceasing to change.

"Honestly," she stuttered, "I-I didn't know. It seemed like a good idea at first, but I was really wondering if going the simple route was the best option. So I just waited awhile until you asked to hang out at my place, and then that's when everything...went down." I was trying to take in all the information she was conveying to me that moment. Was...what I was thinking actually correct all along? "Bolo...at the time we...we..." She couldn't say anything. She was that scared to tell me what she was really feeling at that moment in time. "I didn't mean to...push you away when...you kissed me." She was blushing hardcore, having trouble to find the right words. "I just didn't expect it to happen at the time when we were dancing together. I always pictured something more like if we were on a date or-" She caught herself as my eyes widened. S-So...it really was true.

"...Shantae...," I could barely say, "...Is it...really possible that you...actually have feelings for me?" She closed her eyes and turned away after I asked her that question. Come on, I can't just easily screw up something like that right?

"...I-I..." She was breathing heavily at my question.

"Shantae?"

"...I-I don't know how to answer that..." I didn't read many romance novels, but I've seen people do this at a time when things were getting warm. I gently placed both of my hands on hers, which caused her to react by immediately turning around to look into my eyes. "B-Bolo?"

"You can just say what's on your mind Shantae," I warmly spoke to her, "I won't judge you." She couldn't turn away, no, she didn't want to. She faced her lower body in my direction and continued to look deeply into my eyes, concerned yet blushing at what she was going to say next. I didn't blame her, I honestly didn't know what I was going to do in this situation either!

"...I've always looked to you like you were my older brother," she spoke as I could feel my heart sinking, "You had my back when I was in trouble even if you messed up every once in awhile, and you even came to me when you wanted something fun to do. That's what older brothers do for their little sisters." I knew it, I could feel the reje- "But...now I'm not so sure that I can look at you that way anymore. N-Not after I went through so much trouble just to...just to tell you..." She was moving closer to my face. "Something so...simp..." She just...moved onto me, releasing her hands from mine and wrapping them around my waist. I had my answer, the moment her lips pressed against mine I welcomed them with my arms gently massaging her sides as they tried to coil around her delicate body. We stayed there for awhile...just embracing each other the way we did last night when the kiss actually happened. I thought dancing like this was an awesome thing to do, but no, this kind of scenario was so much better now that it...was something we both knew we wanted. When she took her lips away slowly, her eyes were still closed, the woman breathing heavily after what we just did. She had a tear flowing from her left eye. "I'm...so sorry I caused such a large amount of pain to you Bolo. I should've just accepted the kiss last night and...see where it went." I was blushing really hard at the thought of that. One passionate night with Shantae...I wouldn't even be able to put it into words.

"I like this even better," I reassured her, "The dancing can wait. This scenario is...much more romantic don't you think?" She giggled as we cuddled under the dancing stars.

"That bracelet...," she said, "It was one of the greatest things I ever created. The engraving is something nobody would've been able to figure out no matter how hard they tried. That's why it's so special..." I was curious...

"What does it say anyway?" I asked her as she kept her gorgeous smile, placing her hand on my shoulder as she kissed me one more time.

"It's funny," she started to answer, "You might get a crack at it since the bracelet actually only says three things on it. I was going to wear it, but I think it's best if you keep it..." That still didn't answer my question, but honestly, I didn't care, not right now. "...Bolo?"

"Yeah?" She sat me up slowly and placed herself in my lap, holding my face with her delicate hands.

"Let's...dance through the danger," she said, "Now and forever..." I swore for a moment I thought I was actually dremaing when she said those words.

"Together..."

There was a blur in my vision when my eyes finally decided to open up. I began to wipe the sleep off my eyes after I came to, realizing that Shantae was soothingly sleeping in my arms. I crept out, trying not to wake the goddess up as I realized I was in my boxers. I didn't remember what happened last night, just that there was so much passion involved that I couldn't even bring the pictures to mind. I didn't care...I was just happy to be with her after all that happened the last couple days. I noticed something sitting on the nightstand as I stretched a little bit. There was a couple of words written on a piece of paper, and below it was the bracelet I had placed down when we were intimate together. I just took a look at it and...made another discovery.

"...That's definitely what Shantae would write." I smiled as I looped the silver bracelet around a thread, wearing it like it was a necklace when I climbed back into the hammock with the goddess stirring. When she came to, she smiled and climbed on top of me, kissing passionately once more while embracing one another. How silly of me, such a translation on the bracelet...only she would write that. Only she would come up with...

"Shantae x Bolo"


End file.
